Endowment Fund

What is the ECCCM Endowment Fund?

ECCCM Endowment Trustees:

Have you ever wondered how you might make a gift to ECCCM that helps not only when you give it, but continues to give for years afterward? Or have you thought about leaving a memorial from yourself or for someone you love, but you want to know that your gift won’t be forgotten? Then you might want to consider including the ECCCM Endowment Fund in your giving plans.

The ECCCM Endowment Fund is a trust that works the same way as trusts at many other charities and non-profit institutions such as colleges or universities. The money you donate to the Endowment Fund goes into a pool which is carefully invested. Each year 5% of the pooled money is given to ECCCM to use as they see fit to carry out their charitable missions. The bulk of the money is kept in the Endowment, so that as the Endowment accumulates interest and dividends from its investments, it grows larger and larger over time. This in turn means that the amount paid out to ECCCM each year should grow as well, since ECCCM continues to be awarded a fraction of the increasing fund size.

A popular use for trust funds is to make them a beneficiary of a donor’s will, or for memorial gifts to commemorate the life of a loved one. Since gifts to a trust fund like ECCCM’s are not spent off, but continue to grow over the years, it leaves a lasting “footprint” of the donor that continues to be recognized for years into the future.

Of course, the best way to make the Trust grow more rapidly is for people to make donations directly to it. That means that when you give to ECCCM, you do have a choice. You can contribute directly to the current year’s operating budget and help ECCCM bring much-needed immediate assistance to struggling families, OR you can designate a gift to the ECCCM Endowment Fund, where your money will be pooled to generate income for ECCCM forever. Isn’t it great to know that when it comes to supporting unfortunate families right here in the eastern half of Catawba County, you have choices with no wrong answers?